a diamond in the rough...

It's finally happened!!!

the 'diamond'

 So, just to update the blog and all of you, I am successfully uploading photos on the web!  HIP-HIP-                                  
                                                                      HURRAY!

Sandy enters the scene--my 1st Wwoofer from Chicago!

We have a plot--well you could say that the story has started for real.  The picture you will see (I'm having a HELLUVA time down or up or otherwise loading these gems for your viewing pleasure.) will be that of my FIRST Wwoofer from Chicago who helped me plant up the first part of the 'diamond' the day after she arrived.  I can tell you that Sandy has been awesome, and it is SO great to get support as we planted out all of the first little seedlings--SO, you also think that planting in mid-July (well at least in the northern hemishphere) is a little late...oh, you of little hope!

Unbelievably, outside of all the little lettuce starts (which will probably grow regardless) and the beans (which really all did need to be planted out about one week earlier), the timing on putting out all of these was perfect.  As many of you know, we've not really had a summer in which to make this happen.  What was weird though, with the fog, the thunderstorms, all of the prep-work necessary, and then finally the arrival of Dan from Hawaii, and the rest of the seedlings placed (the pumkins, tomatos, and squash) again, after another rain that added back a lot of needed moisture and made the earth much less dusty, I could not have asked for better conditions.

It will be interesting to see how all of this love and care in planting and the gentleness of the circumstances Mum Nature bestowed on us on the witching/planting hour will ACTUALLY make things go.

Several other tasks were tied into making what happens here in the future more meaning-full--like taking soil samples just before putting Dr. Earth all-purpose organic fertilizer on half of the bed to see what kind of a difference it will make compared to those that didn't get any.  I also want you to know--esp you, Rob, Margaret, and Julia--that I AM recording this in my plant diary...you know, I am going to start this thing right this time round!

Today, staying in the same kind of mode (you know, getting it right from the get-go), we also weeded out a lot of thistle and tansy (known to be fatal to animals, especially cattle here in Oregon).   Just in case you forgot from my previous entry and are curious about the bat encounters and results, Brent went through the remainder of his bat shots JUST IN CASE there was something really wrong about the bat that brushed by Brent's ear when we moved the wood shed about three weeks back.  He is totally done with the series of shot treatments, and finally, finally, got a nurse who massaged the final injection into his shoulders in Denver which greatly helped reduce the discomfort he experienced previously in Gold Beach.

So, finally, we've got caught up a bit on the practical and I do promise those pictures--some day!

Going Batty

Amazing how the time has gone!  Not even two entries for June--the month of beginnings...

the "batty" woodshed moved and...

You know that you are not in control when you can't blog more than that--my partner, Brent, and I have now been back to Cloudplay for almost two weeks.  That being said, it's been a bit slow-going.  A big part of what we've been up to is getting our place--especially our infrastructure--back in order.  One of the main things we've aimed to accomplish is to get our wood shed moved and set up next to our cabin.

This task wasn't actually that difficult, but did involve some major deconstruction of the present structure.  I wish someone had told the bats our intentions to give them a bit more time to be prepared.

To cut to the chase, there were several who obviously weren't going to move and needed more than a push to move them along.  Although a number of the flying rodents took off immediately, there were several who kept returning or lingered, and one mother was definitely not going to leave her young one    

being painted by Wwoofers Sandy and Dan

behind.


Perhaps she thought that she might win the struggle and to prove it, she decided to wing by Brent's ear closely enough to encourage him to make a trip to the local clinic to follow up on what he'd read that even a brush of a claw that didn't even draw blood was enough to transmit rabies.  Whether that was her intention or not, we'll never know, but Brent is now in the middle of his 4 or 5-shot treatment--just in case.


The result:  several somewhat sleepless nights and some very weird sensations in his body.  There will be more on this later...